Respect for other people's culture

Week: 2

Topic: Respect for other people's culture

Objectives: At the end of the lesson pupils should explain respect for other people’s values in relation to:

(a) Importance of listening to other people’s view

(b) How can we respect other people’s views, beliefs and traditions?

(c) What do we gain by listening to other people’s views, e.g. harmony, peace, tolerance?

Content:

Respect for other people's values

Why we must listen to other people’s views

We must listen to other people’s views for the following reasons:

1. We may learn certain things from the views of other people.

2. It will help us to avoid making wrong decisions or judgments about others.

3. It will help us to relate with understanding with others.

4. We need to listen to others because they are also human beings.

5. They are citizens of our country or another country.

6. Other people have a right to express their views, which may be different from our own.

7. We could share ideas.

8. We must show that we consider other people’s views important.

9. It will make them feel accepted in our midst.

Reasons why we must respect other people’s views, beliefs and tradition

The following are some of the reasons why we must respect other people’s views, beliefs and traditions:

1. There will be peace and harmony in society because conflicts and misunderstandings will be avoided.

2. People will feel safe and happy in society.

3. There will be peaceful co-existence in the community.

4. There will be cooperation and friendliness among the citizens.

5. The government will be able to perform its duties when there is peace in society.

6. People will be able to live without fear in any part of the country.

7. Citizens will be free to work without fear in any part of Nigeria no matter where they come from.

8. It gives us an opportunity to learn from one another.

9. The basic law of our country (the Constitution) allows everybody to practise the religion of their choice. It is therefore their right to hold any religious belief.

10. Religious crises will be avoided if we respect other people’s religious beliefs and traditions.

How to respect other people’s views, beliefs and traditions

It is important to respect other people’s views, beliefs and traditions. Nigeria is a large country made up of many ethnic groups with different cultural backgrounds. These cultural groups have their own beliefs and traditions. We live together in the same community and work together too. At times we attend schools together in spite of our differences. We therefore need to respect other people’s beliefs and traditions if we are to live peacefully with one another. We can do this in the following ways:

1. Tolerance: There is a need to make room for our differences. It will be easy to tolerate and be friends with other people who are not like us when we understand that we cannot all hold the same religious and traditional beliefs.

2. Understanding: There will be peace if we show understanding. We should accept other people the way they are, instead of emphasizing the differences between us.

3. Appreciating differences: We respect other people’s views, beliefs and traditions if we appreciate the good qualities that are in these beliefs and traditions.

4. Learning about the differences: We can show respect by deliberately showing interest in learning about the views, religious beliefs and traditions that are different from ours.

 

Evaluation

1. How can you respect and tolerate other people’s culture?

2. Why must we listen to other people’s views?

3. Give four reasons why we must respect and tolerate other people’s views, beliefs and traditions.